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In 2005 & 2006, two
new stars were buried at Hollywood Forever, both on
the edge of the lawn by the road that circles the lake - and both stars of
hit TV series from the '60s & '70s.

To find these graves, from the Valentino mausoleum,
get back in your car and drive northeast to follow the road that circles
the lake. Look to your left (towards the lake), and you will soon see a
massive white statue of a man in a suit & tie sitting in a throne-like
chair - not unlike the Lincoln Memorial statue. Stop the car and get out.

As
you face that seated statue, just to its left, you will see a life-size
statue of an angel, watching over a somewhat cluttered gravesite that contains
(among other things), a smaller angel statue, flowers, and a stone reading
"If Love Could Have Saved You, You Would Have Lived Forever".

This is the grave of "Get Smart" star
Don Adams(1923-2005).

A spoof of the '60s spy fad (such as "James Bond",
"Secret Agent" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."), "Get
Smart" gave us Adams as 'Maxwell Smart' the bumbling Agent 86
of the CONTROL agency, shoe-phone in hand, battling the evil forces
of KAOS and constantly frustrating both his Chief and his seductive partner,
Agent 99.

Anyone familiar with the show will never forget Don's trademark
voice, as he intoned such running gags as "Sorry about that, Chief!", "Missed it by that much!" and "Would you believe...?"
That memorable voice also came in handy later, when Don voiced cartoons such
as "Inspector Gadget".

(In 2008, three years after Don's death, they made
a movie version of the series, "Get Smart", starring Steve Carell
in the 'Smart' role.)

The grave is right at the (inside) edge of the road,
on the northeast side of the lake.

Get
back in the car and continue west a short ways to the next corner, where
you'll see the tall obelisk marking the grave of Griffith Griffith (the
man after whom Griffith Park is named). It somewhat resembles a small
version of the Washington Monument. Turn left (south) here and count the
trees near the curb on your right side. After five trees, stop the car and
get out.

To your right (west), near the curb (across the road
from the lake), you should be able to spot the tall, old-fashioned headstone
of actor Darren McGavin (1922-2006).

One
of my favorite TV movies was a thriller called "The Night Stalker",
starring Darren McGavin as a reporter ('Carl Kolchak') who investigates
the strange case of a serial murderer who seems to be trying to make
people believe he is a vampire... the victims are drained of blood. Or
is it the work of a real vampire? The 1972 TV movie was so popular
that it spawned a sequel ("The Night Strangler"), and then a
TV series of its own ("Kolchak, the Night Stalker"). The
TV series never achieved the same level of suspense as the movie (by then,
we knew the formula too well), but it was still one of the more memorable
series of the '70s.

(Given how much time 'Kolchak' spent running through
graveyards on that show, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some of
those scenes were filmed right here at Hollywood Forever.)

But for everyone who knows Darren McGavin as a supernatural
sleuth, there is another who remembers him in a much more down-to-earth
role: that of Ralphie's 'Old Man' in the popular 1983 Christmas comedy:
"A Christmas Story", who becomes infatuated with a leg-shaped
lamp. And there are still a few who remember him as TV's "'Mike Hammer'
in the '50s.

I visited Hollywood Forever several times before I even
realized that there was another, separate mausoleum at the south end of
the Abbey of the Psalms (the one on the west side of the park,
with Darla Hood and Clifton Webb).

It's called the T-Building, and to enter it
you'll have to walk around to the far south side of the building, where
you'll find a separate entrance - there are no shared inside hallways to
link the two.

Stepping inside, you'll find yourself in a small
chapel of sorts. Turn to your right (east) and walk down the hallway until
you come to a small niche (or short hallway) on your left (north) side.
Step inside this niche, and look at the wall on your right (east).

Here,
you'll find the small crypt of bandleader and composer Nelson Riddle(1921-1985),
seven spaces up from the bottom, and just two spaces out from the back
wall. [see
a map]

Known to TV fans as the orchestra leader on "The
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" and "The Julie Andrews Show,"
Nelson Riddle composed the themes for several television shows, including
"The Untouchables" and "Route 66," and wrote music
for "Batman" and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." He
also scored a number of films, including "Pal Joey," "Lolita,"
"Ocean's Eleven," "How to Succeed in Business...,"
"Harlow" and "El Dorado."

He was a well-known arranger for singers including
Frank Sinatra , Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Peggy Lee - and
more recently for the pops albums of Linda Ronstadt. He also hit the
charts himself with the "Route 66" theme and popular
versions of songs like "Mona Lisa," "Charade"
and Shangri-La."

Now walk back down the main hallway (west), back
past the main entrance, and make a right turn at the next corridor, which
is labeled T-5.

Here,
just five spaces in from the main hall, on your right (east) side, on the
bottom row, you'll find the crypt of the first ofthe Ritz Brothers, a trio of zany actors who did their best
back in the 30's to give the Marx Brothers a run for their money. This
first crypt is that of Al Ritz (1901-1965),
but all three of the Ritz Bros are buried in this T-building.

When you visit the famed forecourt at Grauman's
Chinese Theatre, you may well notice that the Ritz Bros have a huge
square of cement with their footprints & handprints. Along with the
Marx Bros, it's one of the largest squares allotted to any star in the famous
courtyard. Some might wonder why.

The Marx Brothers began cranking out their string
of hilarious hits for Paramount Studios back in 1929 - in 1934, they switched
to MGM, and continued producing hits.

Their success didn't go unnoticed by rival 20th Century
Fox, and in 1936, that studio decided to debut their own zany comedy trio
- and thus the Ritz Brothers were introduced to Hollywood audiences.

They never came anywhere near the popularity of the
Marx Brothers, but Al, Jimmy and Harry Ritz did manage to churn out over
15 movies for Fox, sometimes providing comic relief to romantic musical
stars of the day like Alice Faye & Dick Powell, other times getting
top billing. Their string of decent but mostly forgotten movies ended with
the onset of World War II - it included such titles such as "Sing Baby
Sing," "You Can't Have Everything" and "Life
Begins in College."

(The Ritz Brothers: from left to right,
it's Harry, Al and Jimmy Rotz.)

Apparently, Fox must have insisted on equal space
for their boys, because just four years after the Marx Bros got their acreage
of cement at Grauman's Chinese, the Ritz Bros got their own nearby. Ironically,
the trio is buried only steps away from Paramount
Studios, the original home of the Marx Bros.

You'll find brother Jimmy
Ritz(1904-1985) just
one corridor over to the west (T-5), but he's about 36 spaces in from the
main hallway, and about five spaces up from the bottom of the left (west)
wall, making his marker more difficult to read. [see
a map]

In between these two corridors is a stairway which
leads to an upper floor, where Harry Ritz(1907-1986) was
laid to rest (I haven't been able to track down his crypt yet.)

Last but not least, we go back outside to find our
last (and first) star.

From
back at the lake area (where Tyrone Power and Nelson Eddy are buried),
follow the road around to the north side of the lake, and park near a road
marker that says "Section 2." Now look to your right (north),
and you will spot a former pumphouse (now referred to as "the historic chapel") near the northeast
corner of the park, up against the outside northern wall that borders Santa Monica
Blvd.

The very first grave left (west) of the corner of
that house belongs to a woman whose name most of us have forgotten, but
who holds a unique place in Hollywood history.

Florence Lawrence (1890-1938),
as her worn tombstone reads, was Hollywood's first movie star.

Back
in those early days, tight-fisted studio owners refused to list the names
of their players, fearing (correctly so) that such fame would result in
demands for higher wages. For years, silent screen actors and actresses
were just faces without names.

When Florence Lawrence began to gain popularity,
her studio, Biograph, merely referred to her as "The Biograph
Girl."

So she quit Biograph and went to work for a rival
studio, which billed her as Florence Lawrence - and thus she became the
first movie actor (male or female) to truly achieve stardom and receive screen
credit for their work. And the new studio successfully used her name to sell
their motion pictures.

Unfortunately, her story does not have a happy ending.
When time and fame finally passed her by, Florence took her own life in
a particularly startling way - by consuming ant paste. She was buried in an unmmarked grave.

53 years after her death, this headstone was added in 1991, paid for by actor Roddy McDowall.

Perhaps, wherever she is now, Florence can take some
comfort in the fact that movie fans are still visiting the grave of "America's
First Movie Star."

Finally, Hollywood Forever played
a role in the final disposition of the early remains of former Beatle George Harrison.

Just hours after George Harrison passed away
(at a friend's house in L.A.), the family had his body cremated by Hollywood Forever,
in keeping with his Eastern faith. His ashes were returned to the family,
and were scattered in the sacred Ganges River in India.

His family released a statement following George's
death, which read:
"He left this world as he lived in it, conscious
of God, fearless of death, and at peace, surrounded by family and friends.
He often said, Everything else can wait but the search for God cannot wait,
and love one another."

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Parking:
Free parking inside the grounds.

Hours:
Mon-Fri: 8 AM - 5 PM. Sat-Sun: 9 AM - 4 PM.

Getting there: Hollywood
Forever is located on Santa Monica Boulevard, between Western Avenue &
Vine Street, in Hollywood. The park is bordered by Gower Street (on the
west), Van Ness Avenue (on the east), and the Paramount Studios (on the
south). / From Hollywood & Vine, take Vine Street south to Santa
Monica Boulevard, then turn left (east) on Santa Monica and go three blocks
east to the cemetery, and turn right (south) into the gates. / From
the Hollywood (101) Freeway, take the Santa Monica Boulevard exit,
and head west on Santa Monica Boulevard (one half mile) to the park's entrance
(near Bronson Avenue). Turn left (south) into the gates.

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